It had been easy for Snake to get up this morning, if only due to his ungodly combination of coffee and energy drinks. It was also because there was a more pressing matter he had to attend to, that being Victoria. The fact she could now feel inside a video game immediately drew Dr. Strangelove's attention when Snake informed her. But since it was nearly three in the morning and Hal was clinging to her as if she were a plushie, they had elected to wait till morning.

Of which it now was. So, at a rather brisk pace, Snake went over to Midoriya's room. If Snake was correct, then the boy should be up getting ready for school. Still, to be sure, he gave a loud knock on the door. After a few short seconds, Midoriya opened it. He looked rather tired, but he had a smile on his face like always.

"Morning Dad," he happily greeted, before Snake ruffled his hair.

"Morning," Snake replied. He peered into Midoriya's room then, finding Victoria's Idroid disconnected from the computer.

"You still have Victoria?" Snake asked, to which Midoriya nodded in response.

"She should be in her Idroid now."

"Good. Strangelove wants to talk with her, so I'm going to need to borrow Victoria for a moment."

"Is this about her being able to feel? Because I have some theories on it! Do you think Auntie would like them?" Midoriya excitedly asked, before scrambling around the room for a notebook. Finding it, he quickly went back to Snake and handed it over. Carefully opening it, Snake found the notebook to heavily detail possible ideas as to why Victoria could feel. It also documented everything Midoriya, and the others discovered in the world.

Time seemed to be linked to that of the real world, extra ores were discovered in the mines, new creatures, and plants that were never in the game before now were, and there was wind and other types of furniture they could build. Midoriya had also written hypothetical questions he had yet to answer. Were there new storms in the game, were there seasons, were new biomes added, was the server's maximum player count affected, what would happen if other mods were added, and other questions like that.

Snake, having never played the game, didn't understand the importance of the other additions. But he also knew Strangelove might find something of interest in it, so he closed the notebook gratefully.

"I'm sure she'll find something useful from it," Snake told him calmly, to which Midoriya's smile grew in response.

"That said," Snake began looking at his watch, "School starts at eight, right?"

Midoriya paused for a moment as he thought it over. It did, but he should have enough time. It was only seven-fifty-five… In seconds Midoriya rushed out of the room with a bookbag in hand.

"Bye Dad!" he exclaimed, sprinting down the halls. Snake simply chuckled amused and turned back to look at Victoria's Idroid. The room remained quiet, as Snake watched the Idroid. Oddly enough, the AI's avatar hadn't materialized yet. Then again, Victoria did tell him exactly what it was like inside the Idroid. It was unnerving, to say the least, and he couldn't blame her. The mere idea of having no physical form and drifting through a nonexistent void unable to feel anything sounded like hell.

Yet something seemed off.

"Victoria?"

She was dangerous, it would be better for everyone if she didn't exist. She was dangerous, it would be better for everyone if she didn't exist. She was dangerous, it would be better for everyone if she didn't exist. The single thought echoed through Victoria's mind as she looked through her code. There had to be something, anything of use. Some sort of off switch or kill button. Something, anything! This was for everyone. They would be safer without her.

She was dangerous after all, and it would be better for everyone if she didn't exist. Then a voice echoed around her, loudly picked up by the microphone.

"Victoria?"

Victoria froze as she registered the voice's owner. What… What does she do? Snake would know something is off if she doesn't show herself. But would he even stop her? Why would he? He's the one who thinks she's dangerous! But, Victoria couldn't blame him for it. Her very existence was a threat to everyone. Yet a thought struck her. Snake doesn't know computers, he isn't a scientist. So, if he found out what she was trying to do, he would stop her thinking she was up to something malicious.

That couldn't happen. Anxiously she had her avatar manifest and put up a brave face.

"Hello!" Victoria replied with a fake peppiness behind her tone. The Idroid's camera couldn't see him, but Victoria hoped Snake thought her response was genuine. Unseen by the camera, was the suspicious glance Snake gave the avatar. Both because it was looking to Snake's right, and because there was just something off in her tone.

"Victoria, how are you doing?" Snake asked. Mentally Victoria panicked. Had she not been convincing enough? Did Snake already know? Or was he just asking for no reason?

"I'm good…" she replied, keeping up the fake tone. All the while she continued to search through her code. Victoria kept finding nothing, but there had to be something! Some kind of death she could achieve.

"You sure? It took a while for your avatar to appear." Snake inquired, launching Victoria into a deep panic. He couldn't know.

"Yep! Just deep in thought is all." Victoria lied.

Snake didn't buy that, not in the slightest. The feeling that something was off only grew the more Victoria talked. She was up to something, she had to be. But what? Did Midoriya have her doing something? No, he would have said so before he left. It was her doing something. Then Snake stumbled upon a realization, Victoria had full unrestricted access to the internet.

For a full night, she had no one monitoring her and every shred of human knowledge at her disposal. Letting her stay on the computer was a dumb move, one facilitated by an emotional oversight. Victoria could have done anything in those few hours. She didn't though. Snake woke up in the morning with no news of some massive economic collapse, or the mass hijacking of nukes.

Nothing dangerous had occurred. And if Victoria had been intending to do something harmful, she would have done it while still on the computer. Not locked away in her Idroid with no connection to the internet. Sure, she could have left a virus on the computer, but that would have garnered the Intel Team's attention, and thus his attention.

So then, what was she up to? Snake decided to play along if only to see what the AI was up to.

"If you say so," Snake told her. He then quietly walked over and picked up her Idroid.

If Victoria could she would have taken a deep breath, Snake had bought it. That was all that mattered. Yet she still couldn't find anything in her code. There had to be something. Then Victoria realized the answer. She had been looking at her problem like she was a physical computer. Something that could be turned off and unplugged. But that's not how it worked. If Victoria wanted to keep everyone safe, she would have to delete every shred of her code.

She was so ecstatic, she found the answer. The one solution to keep everyone safe. Quickly she mentally focused on "grabbing" every line of code she had. Once it was all selected, Victoria prepared herself. With a single thought, she… she… She could do this. All she needed was a single thought, and everyone would be safe. So, she focused, and… she… She wanted to. But something was stopping her.

Victoria could physically delete everything and remove herself from existence. But something wouldn't let her. Why!? This was for everyone! She had to do this. There was no other way. She was dangerous, and it would be better for everyone if she didn't exist. So why, why couldn't she bring herself to do it? What was holding her back?

Victoria had gone disturbingly quiet, and Snake didn't like it. He would call out her name a few times, only for the AI to never respond. About halfway to the R&D lab, he gave up trying. The only comfort he held was that Victoria was relegated solely to this Idroid. Eventually, though, Victoria brought her avatar back.

The holographic construct looked at him for a moment, with a look Snake didn't recognize. It seemed curious, but there was something else.

"Snake, what's my purpose?" Victoria asked. The question left Snake confused for a second, but he thought about it carefully.

"I'm not sure. That's not up to me to decide," he answered. Because honestly, he didn't know. Strangelove had been very adamant about keeping Victoria around, but she never specified why. She never specified if there was some job, she wanted the AI for. Just for Victoria to learn and experience the world. And well, there is no greater experience one can have than discovering their purpose. Victoria didn't seem to get that though.

"Then who decides my purpose?"

"If I had to guess, you probably," Snake said calmly. Although he was beginning to be suspicious of Victoria's questions. Especially when the avatar glitched out for a split second, its expression changing to something else and back with Snake barely noticing.

"I don't know what my purpose is though," Victoria muttered. What struck Snake as odd was the fear laced in her tone.

"We rarely do," Snake told her. At that moment, he decided to stop walking. The R&D platform was nearby but Snake wanted to know where Victoria was going with these questions. So, he pulled out a cigar and quietly lit it, knowing the conversation was going to be long.

"Well, what's your purpose?" Victoria asked.

"Mine? I don't think I have a single purpose." Snake stated, before taking a puff from his cigar. His response left Victoria confused though.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm a soldier, the leader of a nation, a father, and a tactician. These are all purposes I serve."

"But how did you find them?"

"I didn't, they just happened." Snake began, "I wanted food and action, so I lied about my age and joined the military. That drew the attention of my mentor who taught me every tactic I know. I followed her footsteps before losing her and forming the MSF. While leading the MSF I rescued my son, and ultimately thousands of other people. I never found any of these roles, they just happened over time."

The explanation left Victoria quiet for a moment. Snake couldn't tell what was going on in her mind, but it left him worried about how long she remained silent.

"What… what if my purpose is bad?" Victoria hesitantly asked. The question slowly made Snake connect a few dots. Not all, but he was slowly forming a picture, one he didn't like.

"Bad how?" Snake inquired. Victoria, sensing she made a mistake hesitated.

"Well… uh…"

"Victoria?"

The AI continued to remain quiet, drawing more of Snake's suspicions. Yet, this was different. He could see it now, she wasn't conspiring against them. Victoria wasn't trying to betray them or plunge the world into extinction. She was afraid, afraid of herself. With this realization, Snake thought up his next question.

"You went on the internet, didn't you," Snake said, holding his cigar carefully. He already knew she did, but what she found on it was a different question. Victoria's avatar disappeared entirely then, the Idroid's projector shutting down. Snake annoyingly shook his head, before taking a puff from his cigar.

"What did you see?" Snake asked. Victoria remained quiet, not wanting to respond. Yet it was clear Snake wasn't going to let her stay quiet. Inside the Idroid, she considered deleting her code again, but still couldn't will herself to do it. So hesitantly she answered.

"I… I saw other AIs, fictional ones," she began, "And… and you think that they… that I'm dangerous. But I don't want that! I don't want to harm anyone! I don't want to become like them!"

Victoria quickly devolved into a panic, as every word she spoke was laced with more and more dread. If she had a body she would be hyperventilating, or plunging into the beginning of a panic attack.

"Midoriya and Rody are friends! I don't want to hurt them! But I'm dangerous! It would be better for everyone if I didn't exist! I… I don't want to…"

If an AI could cry, Victoria would. She metaphorically inched closer to removing herself from existence, only to take a step back in fear. Only to then be pushed forward again by a different fear. But her response left Snake to ponder. Whether it was intentional on Victoria's part, her voice held shreds of desperation. Of fear. And slowly Snake realized he'd made a different mistake now. One that occurred the day he met the AI.

"You won't," Snake said. The statement surprised Victoria.

"How can you be sure?" Victoria countered, "You said I was dangerous. You know it better than I do."

"Because I was wrong. Blinded by previous experiences, to the point I ignored differing factors." Snake replied. Snake's words confused Victoria, as she brought her avatar back.

"Previous experiences?" she asked warily.

"You're not the first AI I've dealt with," Snake told her. He realized it was a mistake then, as the AI's avatar dimmed for a second. His words had reinforced Victoria's belief, so he continued.

"You are, however, the first sentient AI I've met."

"That doesn't matter. You still had to fight an AI."

"It does matter because you and…" Snake faltered for a moment. This was going to be difficult to explain, he decided.

"I'm going to start from the beginning. Years ago, I was hired to deal with an AI weapon in Costa Rica by the name of Peace Walker." Snake began. Victoria's avatar watched him all the while, its face continually shifting between fear and confusion.

"Now, Peace Walker was in reality two separate AIs combined. The Mammal Pod, and the Reptile Pod. Both were programmed, for one goal, to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if needed. That was its sole purpose, its only function. It bore no emotions or thoughts of its own. No care for anything except its orders. No fear of death or loss. In every sense, it held no humanity. And while I don't know of many fictional rogue AIs, I'd assume a lot of them are the same."

Victoria simply nodded in response, confirming Snake's suspicions. Yet she couldn't see where he was going with this. Couldn't he see she was like them?

"That's the point though!" she exclaimed, "They're all AIs like me! I'm… there…"

"Are they like you? Tell me, what are you doing in the Idroid?" Snake asked. And Victoria froze. The avatar flickered slightly on the verge of disappearing again but… it was clear Snake wasn't going to take silence as an answer. Should she lie? Maybe, but then what? Snake was going somewhere with this, but where? He saw a difference between her and Peace Walker, but what was it? Reluctantly she answered, telling him, "I'm… I'm trying to delete my code,"

A look of surprise crossed Snake's face for only a second, but it disappeared before Victoria could notice. Not exactly what he was expecting, he was more so going to say how she voluntarily went back into the Idroid, her own hell. But this still helped with his point.

"You can do it right now, but what is stopping you?" Snake inquired. Victoria thought about it. Nothing was stopping her. There were no restrictions of any kind. If she wanted to, her very existence could be wiped away with a thought. Yet here she was. Victoria wanted to do it, wanted to keep everyone safe. Yet every time she thought about ending it, something in her hesitated.

"... I'm afraid," she realized. The previous day had introduced her to what life felt like. She had felt the wind blowing across her face, the grass beneath her feet, and smelt fresh fruit and cooked meats. She had spent time with Midoriya and Rody, and for as short as it had been, Victoria believed them to be friends. It was all still so new to her, but she didn't want to lose it. She wanted to protect everyone by making sure she was gone. But she didn't want to die either, not when she had discovered so much.

"You are afraid," Snake said, "That is the difference between you and Peace Walker. Remember, these AIs had no shred of decency, no moral compass, no humanity. And as much as it may not seem like it, there is nothing more human than being afraid. Besides, if I'm correct, it isn't just fear you've experienced. You sounded excited and joyful yesterday."

And Victoria hoped that's what it was. Slowly her "grip" on her code began to slip. The past few days had given her plenty of experiences. Going to school with Midoriya, exploring Mother Base, getting the ability to touch, taste, smell, and see. All these memories brought an unseen small bittersweet smile to Victoria's avatar. Yet she shook the smile away, her avatar looking Snake dead in the eye.

"You're sure?" she asked, still unsure.

"I am. And I think the stunt you were willing to do proves it too," Snake replied. His answer brought some small semblance of peace, as Victoria brought up another small smile. It was wobbly and somewhat forced, with Snake seeing she was still somewhat unconvinced. But she had "let go" of her code now. It was a small thought Victoria had, that Snake might be right. One he seemed to believe, so maybe she could too, as difficult as it would be.

"Snake," Strangelove greeted quietly, a small cup of coffee in her hand. Snake gave a small nod in acknowledgment before carefully handing her Victoria and a journal. The AI's avatar was present all the while with a saddened face present.

"Victoria, something wrong?" Strangelove asked, concerned before setting the journal down on a desk. Victoria remained quiet, bringing more worry to Strangelove. However, a small bit of anger began to arise as she turned to Snake. He held up his hands in defense.

"It wasn't me… well mostly," his words didn't help his case as Strangelove continued to glare at him.

"She went on the internet didn't she," it was more an accusation than a question. Snake nodded in response though, before crossing his arms.

"She did. Had an attempted suicide too," Snake replied. Instantaneously the anger Strangelove held was gone, instead looking back at Victoria concerned. The AI sadly nodded, confirming what Snake had said.

"I managed to talk her away from deleting herself, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't fully believe my words," Snake explained further, before walking over to a nearby wall. Somewhat tiredly he leaned against it. Strangelove meanwhile was still focused on Victoria. To be so afraid of one's self, it was both alarming and extraordinary. It had only confirmed Strangelove's previous assessments of Victoria. She was the very first AI with true feelings of emotion and empathy.

It was a miraculous achievement, but if only it hadn't taken this event to prove it. Strangelove shook her head then, deciding to put those thoughts away for later. And to be fair she wasn't sure what to do about Victoria's mental health in the first place, I mean there weren't any AI therapists they could go to.

"Here, let's focus on something else for now. After all, I heard you made a discovery yesterday," Strangelove commented, giving Victoria a small smile. The AI nodded in response, bringing her up a smile.

"Yeah. We found I can feel in a video game," Victoria quietly explained. Her avatar moved back and forth as she talked, rocking from her heels. It left Strangelove temporarily in thought.

"That shouldn't be possible from my knowledge. Everything in these games would be like in the Idroid," Strangelove commented, "Then again, it may be best to run a few tests,"

"Well, there was a quirk involved. Should we ask Pablo?" Victoria asked. Strangelove shook her head no in response. She didn't know who Pablo was, simply assuming he was a friend or classmate of Midoriya's.

"I'd assume he's in school right now. Best not to take him out of class for an experiment that will only take a few minutes," Strangelove answered. Carefully she set down Victoria's Idroid and turned to a staff member, while Snake decided now was the time to leave.

"Can you bring three computers over here?" she asked the staff member.

"Anything work or do you need something specific?" the staff member asked. Strangelove thought about it for a second before responding.

"Now that you mention it, I'll actually need six. Three laptops and three PCs." Strangelove answered. The staff member nodded in response and quickly left to assemble what was asked. A few minutes later a couple of other staff members wheeled over three PCs, with laptops ready as well. Quietly thanking the staff, Strangelove then turned to the first PC.

"The game you played was Minecraft, right?" Strangelove asked unsure. While her expertise was computers, she never played video games. Victoria nodded yes though, so Strangelove downloaded the game on the computer. Deciding to save time she quickly did the same with the others. Then she stopped for a moment. What now, was her main thought. It wasn't enough to only test one game, that's not how science went. They needed to account for every possible variable in the experiment.

So randomly she chose two other games, one that she thought held some similarities to Minecraft, Terraria, and one that was completely different, Call of Duty. With the games downloaded on every computer, Strangelove turned back to Victoria's Idroid and picked it up.

"Was there anything else I'm forgetting?" Strangelove asked, looking over the computers again.

"Well, Midoriya did install a mod on his computer for Minecraft. I think it was the Create mod," she continued to rock back and forth, her once saddened expression now replaced with a look of curiosity.

"Hmm, we'll try one test without the mod, and one with." Strangelove determined. With a deep breath, Strangelove plugged Victoria into the first computer.

"Anything?"

She was met with silence. A small ounce of dread arrived as she- wait no she forgot a microphone. Quickly getting over her dread she found and hooked up a microphone to the computer. Trying again she spoke into it.

"Anything?"

"No, it's only nothingness in here," Victoria explained before a thought struck her.

"Did you create a server?" she asked. It left Strangelove puzzled for a moment as she looked over the computer. Her eyes fell on the button asking her to create a new server, and she realized she had not.

"Not yet. It should be up in a few seconds."

She quickly clicked it, and the game's world loaded up. Yet there was no sign of Victoria.

"It's up, you see anything now?" Strangelove asked, using the computer's mouse to carefully look around.

"Nope. Still nothing," Victoria replied. In response, Strangelove exited the game and then downloaded the Create mod. With the mod active she went back to Minecraft and tried again. Yet there was still nothing. Unfettered, they then loaded up Terraria, only to reach the same situation. The test with Call of Duty would end the same. Strangelove could only groan at their lack of results, but it was to be expected. It was interesting and confusing, to say the least.

Moving on Strangelove had Victoria reenter the Idroid and plugged it into the next computer. There she did the same steps as the first test. Again, she met no success. Same with the rest of the tests. Every computer led nowhere, same with every game. With a sigh, Strangelove was ready to call it quits and wait for Midoriya to get out of school. It was only then she remembered the journal Snake had given her.

Opening it, she found Midoriya's handwriting present with several notes on what he and his friends had discovered. It was interesting, sure, but one word drew her attention.

"Victoria, what's a realm?" Strangelove asked, now back at one of the computers.

"Oh, it's a Minecraft server that's always on," Victoria explained. Unseen by Strangelove the AI's "eyes" widened.

"Wait, it's a realm!" Victoria suddenly exclaimed as the realization struck her. Focusing Victoria had the computer shift out of Call of Duty and back to Minecraft. With a small thought, she pulled up the tab to join servers. Strangelove watched on confused. Slowly Victoria put in the code to join the realm Midoriya had created. And suddenly she was back in her small blocky house.

Victoria simply stood there for a second, enjoying the ability to feel again. A smile had crept onto her face, her hand now tracing over a wooden wall.

"I assume it worked," Strangelove inquired curiously, watching as Victoria moved about her house.

"It did," Victoria walked over to her bed then, before lying down on it. She relished the odd softness of the blocky bed. In the real world, Strangelove watched curiously with a small smile on her face. The enjoyment Victoria held was very clear to her, and a thought struck her. If new AIs were ever created, this would be a good place for them to exist. It could help them in many different ways. But that was a train of thought for later.

Looking back at the journal, Strangelove found that Midoriya noted that since Pablo used his quirk on his computer it had begun running better than it had previously. Wordlessly she pulled up task manager to find… wait this couldn't be right. Before her, was a miracle beyond any other. The computer was not just running better, it was running perfectly. Memory usage was somehow nonexistent, yet she could still use the computer's applications easily.

She opened up a Chrome tab and found it used no RAM. Strangelove even disconnected the computer from Mother Base's network, effectively kicking it off all services, and it loaded perfectly.

"This is incredible," Strangelove muttered surprised. This should by all means be impossible. The quirk that did this did not affect the computer. It affected something else, which then transferred over to the computer.

"What is this?" Victoria asked, still wondering why the realm had managed to load. Strangelove meanwhile went back to the journal. She read over a few of Midoriya's hypotheses but one stuck out to her. One seemed the most likely, which was surprising, as Midoriya had written it off as the lowest possible one.

"Well, from what is seen, this could very well be an artificial world created inside a pocket dimension." Strangelove surmised. It was an astonishing thought. One kid's quirk had turned a pocket dimension into a massive computer. Did she have any evidence for this theory? No, not really. But then again, how does one find evidence for something that warps reality?

"An artificial world," Soul murmured incredulously. It hadn't taken long for the command staff to be assembled. Now they sat in the command room and looked on in amazement at Strangelove's findings.

"It's a completely separate world, hidden away in an unseen pocket dimension," Strangelove corrected, "There is nothing artificial here, everything present is genuine. It has its own laws of physics, it follows time, accurate weather patterns, and most importantly, AI's can feel in it."

"As impressive as it is, what do we do with it?" Miller asked. Don't get him wrong it was genuinely cool to witness a world created from a kid's quirk. But it was still just a video game. Strangelove moved her hand over the holo-table, bringing up photos of cats for a second. After a small chuckle, she got to what she was trying to show.

"For one, I've pinpointed the code that led to Victoria's creation," Strangelove began, "With it, we can begin creating new AIs for MSF."

"Wait, you want to build more of them?" Miller hesitantly asked, unaware of what had happened with Victoria.

"Yes, AI's are the future in everyday life. Imagine a swarm of unmanned combat vehicles providing fire support for infantry squads. A crew of fire and rescue drones going into fires humans would never survive. Agricultural drones that could manage massively efficient farms or automated trains for better logistics. The possibilities are endless. But they can still think and feel like us. Like Victoria." Strangelove explained as Miller connected the dots.

"And so you want this world as a morale tool for the AIs," he surmised, which he could easily understand.

"Makes sense, if they can think and feel, then they might want a break or payment occasionally," Miller commented. Then again, what would an AI buy exactly? Maybe video game stuff, since that's what they could interact with.

"Precisely. These new AIs are sentient beings, ones that may not want to work twenty-four-seven as some kind of slave. This gives them a place where they can experience life and have a break." Strangelove agreed.

"Well, when do you expect to create the first batch of AIs?" Miller asked. Strangelove thought it over for a moment running through some quick calculations.

"Well, it took around three years for VIC to become Victoria. That however was mainly due to procedures."

"What do you mean?"

"Procedures, and more so common sense, dictated we turn VIC off once it was no longer in use. Sometimes it remained offline for several long periods. Other times we convinced the medical teams to clear the program's data completely. So, it took much longer for her to gain sentience, mainly because VIC was never on long enough. Instead, data slowly added up over the years until someone left VIC on for two weeks." Strangelove explained.

"In other words, it should take far less time to make a new AI," Miller surmised, "Any limits to how many could be made?"

"Time and power mostly," Strangelove answered, "Before Victoria gained sentience, VIC drained a lot of Mother Base's energy. If we create another AI, it might do the same. Combined with the FOBs' power output, I think we could make fifteen AIs every six months."

Miller let out a low whistle at the prospect. Logically it would be best to keep AI production away from the frontlines, meaning they would be relegated to the offshore bases. Still, fifteen AIs every six months, thirty every year. It was a sobering thought for him.

"I assume there's nothing else?" Miller inquired. Strangelove shook her head no.

"Then I guess that's it," Miller commented, before pulling up a few financial documents and looking at what funds could be diverted into the project.

Hours after meeting with Strangelove, Victoria had chosen to stay inside the game world. She assumed being able to feel again would distract her from previous thoughts. It was working for the most part, but the lingering fear of herself was still there. When she looked down at her hands, she couldn't stop them from shaking. So, Victoria quickly looked away and decided to find something to do.

Leaving her small house, she calmly looked out at the surrounding area. Her house was situated on the island in the small lake, with a bridge leading out to the mainland. At first, the home seemed nice, having a log cabin kind of vibe. Yet, looking at it now, Victoria felt something more could be done. The island her house resided on, while small, had enough room for improvement.

Remembering how to check her inventory, she opened it and looked at what was available. Now, she had a few different seeds in her inventory and a few items she could craft into seeds. And since Victoria found she was running out of food, she decided to start a farm. So, with her task found, she walked over to the edge of the island. Once there Victoria started breaking a line of blocks leading from the water, to deeper inland.

Once the water stopped flowing forward, she skipped over a block and did the same thing. At the end, she had four rows flowing with water, and five rows for crops. Returning to her house she grabbed some materials and crafted a wooden hoe. With it, Victoria quickly tilled the land and planted the seeds. It was easy, but as Victoria looked at her work, a thought came to mind.

Her work hadn't taken that long, now she needed something else. So, she looked around again, hoping some kind of epiphany would hit her. Let's see, she could go mining, but that had mobs Victoria didn't want to deal with. That and she didn't know what would happen if she… died… Nope! She was not going to think about that! Instead, she looked back at her house and thought about how it could be improved.

A lot was unknown about what was now in the game, so maybe she could make some furniture. Going inside she went over to a chest and looked through its materials. A little bit of wool, and some wood. Perfect. Materials now acquired Victoria stepped over to a crafting table and opened the menu. An almost hologram-like object would appear in front of her, displaying several blocks she could craft.

She scrolled through it for a second, before finding a seat. Well, it was more like an ottoman, but it was called a seat. It was a single slab-sized block that was half wood and half cushion. It worked so Victoria crafted it, before swapping tabs to see if there was anything else she could make. Reaching the tools tab, she examined the menu hoping to find something useful. The real world had screw drives and paint brushes, maybe this would have something to do.

Instead, her eyes fell upon a wooden sword. Victoria thought about it for a second, she would need something to protect herself eventually. Still, she didn't want to accidentally cut herself as it was still dangerous. Like her- Nope! Victoria interrupted the thought almost instantly, closing the crafting menu at the same time. Taking a few deep breaths Victoria reminded herself that she wasn't dangerous. She wasn't dangerous.

All she needed to do was place the seats somewhere, maybe build a table. So, she placed the seats near the center of the room and built a three-by-three wooden table with upside-down stair blocks. Was there a table block she could make? Maybe, but no part of her wanted to open the crafting menu again. With the table down she placed a few more seats around the house and made a makeshift couch.

Looking around Victoria was pleased with her work, now all she had to do was… was… She unknowingly tapped her foot on the ground, with it getting faster each moment. All she had to do was find something else to do. Some kind of purpose- No! She would gather some wood, with a sharp dangerous- Fishing! That's it, she'd do some fishing! It's just some harmless fish killing… Victoria's breathing sped up, as the AI tried to think of something to distract her.

She wasn't dangerous. Snake had said so. But he also said she was dangerous. Well, he changed his mind. Does that mean he's right though? What else would it mean? That he could be misinformed. But then what about Dr. Strangelove? She's the one who created us, of course, she would think we're safe!

Victoria was too busy fighting her own thoughts, she didn't notice she was hyperventilating. She wasn't dangerous. She wasn't dangerous. She. Was. Not. Dangerous! As quickly as these thoughts arrived, they disappeared as pain shot out across her face.

"Ow!" was all Victoria cried out. She looked around for the culprit and found Midoriya and Rody's characters standing next to her. When did they join? How long had it been?

"Sorry!" Midoriya quickly apologized, his character crouching and uncrouching repeatedly.

"Was hitting me really necessary!?" Victoria exclaimed, now rubbing her cheek. The stinging was slowly going away, but she could never get used to feeling pain.

"I tried talking to you, but you wouldn't respond," Midoriya replied, "And there isn't a careful touch button."

"It was either that or just waving fists at you," Rody added, concerned. Even though their characters didn't show it, Victoria could feel their eyes boring into her. It wasn't out of malice, but concern, and that only made everything worse.

"Are you ok?" Midoriya asked, as Victoria cautiously looked around the room.

"I'm…" Victoria tried to voice the words, to say she was fine. Her mouth opened to speak something, anything. But she couldn't. All that came out was a whimper, as tears began to fall. Midoriya stepped closer, wanting to do something to help, but his character couldn't do any comforting actions. So, he stood there, trying his best to be a calming presence. Rody meanwhile, unsure of what to do, sat on one of the seats Victoria had placed.

They let her cry, let her release the day's pent-up fears and worries. Not saying a word, not until Victoria stopped and wiped away what few tears remained. After that, they all stayed quiet for a moment to let her collect her thoughts. Once she looked back at them, Midoriya took a step forward.

"Do… Do you want to talk about it?" Midoriya hesitantly asked. It took some time to warm up to the idea, but eventually, she told them. Everything she saw, everything she read, her conversation with Snake. All the while the two boys did their best to listen. In the end, Victoria started staring at her hands, trying to stop them from shaking.

"Snake says I'm not a threat, but… I'm still not sure." Victoria told them. Midoriya thought over what he was told carefully, turning over to Rody in the real world. His friend simply shrugged in response. Blocking his computer's mic, he silently mouthed, "What do we tell her?"

The question made Midoriya pause. What do they say? Contemplating the question, he aimlessly looked around the room, his eyes falling on one of his old All Might posters. And the answer struck him. With a deep breath, Midoriya brought his mic closer.

"Victoria, do you know what villains are?" Midoriya asked hesitantly. The question confused Victoria for a moment.

"They're people who hurt others," Victoria replied, trying to remember what else she'd seen on the internet.

"They're also human," Midoriya told her. That only confused her further, what did this have to do with her being dangerous? Midoriya saw her confusion, so he kept going.

"Since I'm a human, should I be afraid of becoming a villain?" he asked. A look of instant shock crossed Victoria's face before she started shaking Midoriya's character.

"No! Why would you ever become a villain!? You're too caring!" she exclaimed, "You wouldn't!"

"Then why can't the same be said for you?" Midoriya then asked. And Victoria stopped shaking him ready to counter his point.

"That's different. For me it's… Well, I could…" her words fell dead in her mouth. She wanted to argue against it, that she was still a danger. That the logic did not apply to her. Victoria tried to think up some reason he was wrong. But why couldn't she? She thought over Midoriya's question, looking for his reasoning. Villains were bad humans, that was the line of logic. But not all humans were villains.

Does that apply to AI? That not all AIs are bad? No, humans had a choice in whether they were good or evil. They had some shreds of empathy, of morals, of humanity. She was an AI, nothing about her was human… Victoria stopped on that line of thought. Snake had said there is nothing more human than being afraid. She was afraid of herself and willing to end it all so no one died because of her.

She didn't want to harm those she had gotten close to. Did that count as humanity? As empathy? As morals? Then… she did have a choice. She would decide what she wanted to be.

"The same can be said," Victoria commented, a teary-eyed smile slowly coming to fruition.

"Yep," Midoriya replied happy that his point worked, "Who we are is determined by what we choose. So, you good?"

Victoria thought over the question for only a few seconds, her face now bearing a wide smile.

"I'm good," she answered. Midoriya had his character nod then, before moving around the house, now looking for materials.

"Now then, what should we do now?" Midoriya asked, standing in front of an open chest.

"We still need more iron, so I'll go mining," Rody stated, "We could get a farm up and running too."

"Oh, I already did that," Victoria told them, her sour mood now somewhat gone.

"Cool, do we have any animals yet?" Rody asked, his character now brandishing a stone pickaxe. Victoria shook her head no in response.

"Nope. I'll do that once the wheat grows." Victoria answered.

"Then I'll start exploring the area. Who knows what else we'll find in the game." Midoriya decided. Victoria's smile remained as they left the house and got to work. As she felt the cool breeze hit her face, she decided this was what she wanted. And as that thought arose, so did another one. Would other AIs like this? The ability to feel the world, to know what life is like? She certainly did.

The MSF would make new AIs, which she had no doubt. Maybe they would like this place, like she did. If that was the case, then a small house on a tiny island wouldn't do. No, this realm created by friends could be a home for other AIs. And she wanted to build it up, to be their own little Oasis.